Rev. Esta Rosario

Rev. Esta Y. Hoover de Rosario was raised as a “T.O.” (theological offspring) and grew up surrounded by various rural church families in the South Indiana Conference. She began her musical studies as a piano student at the age of 7 and was accompanying her school’s choir by 5th grade. Throughout her childhood she was actively involved in the church through attending worship, Sunday School, youth group, singing, playing the piano, and, as a teen, preaching on Youth Sunday. Rev. Rosario heard a call to pastoral ministry when she was in high school, but said, “No way.” Being a pastor’s daughter, she had witnessed firsthand how draining it was to deal with people in the church, and wanted no part of it, so she decided to pursue music as a career.

Rev. Rosario began her undergraduate studies in Piano Pedagogy & Piano Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. Following her graduation from IU in 1988, she pursued a Masters of Music at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her work experience in the area of music include teaching private and group piano lessons in “The Young Pianists Program” at IU for seven years, teaching private studio piano lessons for seventeen years, accompanying ballet classes for ballet majors at Indiana University and the University of Illinois, accompanying the Columbus, Indiana Philharmonic Chorus, accompanying school choirs, accompanying instrumental and vocal recitals, and teaching early childhood music classes (Kindermusik for three years and Musikgarten for four years).

Serving on the team for the first walk of the Midwest Crossroads Emmaus Community in the Fall of 1999 gave Rev. Rosario the opportunity to once again hear God’s call to pastoral ministry. This time, the answer was “Not yet.” In 2002 Rev. Rosario joined the staff of the Valparaiso First United Methodist Church as the Director of Music where she combined her passion for music and her call to ministry. Being on a church staff helped to clarify and strengthen her call to ministry and ten years later, in 2012, she became a certified candidate for ministry on the elder track. Rev. Rosario earned her Masters of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on May 13, 2016 and was commissioned as a Provisional Elder in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 10, 2017. Rev. Rosario has been appointed to serve Hammond Woodmar United Methodist Church effective July 1, 2017.

Rev. Rosario is married to Miguel Rosario, Director of Bands at Valparaiso High School, and they have four children: Kristofer (25), Ricardo (21), Olivia (18) and Antonio (16).